Weighing-machine.



No. 69I,536. Patented lan. 2|, I902.

c. 0. smcsou.

WE|GH|NG MACHINE.

(Applichtion filed June 7, 1901,

M fl nil I H t INVENTOR M 8. W v $0.6. W

JAM a J h ATTORNEY ams PETERS co, rmcnau'rno.v WASHINGTON, n. c,

No. 69!,536. Patented -lan. 2l, i902.

c. 0. En|cs0u..

'WEIGHING MACHINE.

(Application filed June 7 1901.)

s Shee'ts-Sheet 2.-

(No Model.)

INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESSES TNE NORRIS PEYERS co. PHOTO-LUNG, WASHIN No.69!,536. I Patented Ian. 2|, I902.

C. 0. ERICSON. WEIGHING MACHINE.

(Application-filed June 7, 1901.]

(No Modal.)

-|NVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY UNITED (STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES OSCAR ERIOSON, OF HELMETTA, NEW JERSEY.

WElGHlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATIbN forming part of Letters Patent No. 691 ,536, dated January21, 1902.

Application filed June 7, 1901. Serial No. 63,638 (No model.) I

clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of machines whicharoused for weighing and packing loose material into bottles, boxes, orother packages; and the object of my invention is to produce a simpleand positive machine which is particularly adapted for use in weighingand packing damp powders or fibrous materials, such as snuff, which canalso be used for weighing and packing similar things and which isadapted to automatically deliver the snuff or other material to aweighingscale and successively weigh charges sufficient to fill certainsizes of package.

It is my practice to use my weighing device in connection with a machinefor packing the material in bottles or other articles, and for thisreason I have shown it in connection with such a machine, although thepacking part of the apparatus illustrated is covered by a separateapplication, Serial No. 65,635, filed July 25, 1901.

To these ends my invention consists of certain features of constructionand combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described andclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine embodying my invention.Fig. 2 is a side Fig. 3 is an' elevation or end view thereof. enlargeddetail sectional view of one of the charging funnels and "the hammer andscraper'attachment therefor. Fig.4 is a sectional plan of the hammer andscraper. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail side elelation, partly in section,of the weighing apparatus. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional View showing thedischarge mechanism of the main hopper. Fig.

7 is a broken plan view of the hopper and its contained conveyer, andFig. 8 is a detail sectional View of an attachment which can be usedwhen large boxes are to be packed.

The machine has a suitable framework 10, which may be of any approveddesign, and on this, preferably at the top, is supported a hopper 11,the bottom ofwhich is practically horizontal, and the hopper has in thebottom an opening 12, which for convenience is placed at a point nearthe center of the hopper. This opening discharges into and through ashort spout 13, the closure of which is automatically operated, ashereinafter described.

Within the hopper 11, which has a rounding bottom, (see Fig. 6,) is aconveyer 14, which is preferably made of spiral wire and which iscarried by a shaft 16, and which when revolved has a tendency to lightenup the material and at thesa'me time force it toward the opening 12,through which it drops.

The machine is primarily designed for packing snuff, and this is usuallya' little damp and sticky, and so a paddle 15 is used, which is attachedto the shaft 16 and turns above and opposite the opening 12, so that.

when the shaft revolves the paddle has a tendency to force the snuffthrough the opening.

The conveyer can obviously be turned in any usual mechanical way, but asillustrated the shaft 16 projects through the ends of the hopper 11 andcarries a gear-wheel 17, (see Fig. 2,) which meshes with and is drivenby a pinion 18 on the counter-shaft 19, the latter being supported in asuitable pillow-block 20 and having thereon a driving sprocketwheel 21,which is driven 'by a chain 22, connecting with the sprocket-wheel 23 onthe main shaft 24. The driving-shaft 24 is mounted in suitable supportsand is provided with driving-pulleys 25, (see Fig. 1,) one being tightand the other loose; but obviously any suitable means can be employedfor turning the shaft.

Thedischarge-spout 13 of the hopper is provided with a swinging door 26,which is hinged to one side of the spout, as shown at 27, and which isadapted to close the spout, so as to prevent the snulf or other materialfrom dropping therefrom. This door is provided with two arms 28 and 29,which pro ject from the ear of the hinge 27, one arm 28 being providedwith a suitable counterweight 30, adapted to normally close the door,and the. second arm 29 being curved, as shown in Fig. 6, to give it acam effect, and this arm extends into the path of a stud 31 on the tube32, which tube acts as a controller for the door, so as to hold it openuntil a certain amount of snuff has been discharged and then permit thedoor to close. The tube 32 is closed at both ends and is pivoted nearthe center, as shown at 33, to a standard 34, which may be anyconvenient support, but which, as illustrated, is connected at the upperend to a bolt 35, and this is held by nuts 36 to a bracket-plate 37,while at the lower end the standard 34 is adjustably secured in theslots 38 of the arm 39, and this is fastened to the main frame 10, asshown in Fig. 2. The tube 32 contains a heavy liquid, mercury beingsuitable, which will run from end to end of the tube and which,consequently, will tip down first one end and then the other of thetube, according to circumstances, as will presently appear.

The materialdischarged from the spout l3 falls into the pan 40 of ascale, the pan being supported in the forks 41, as usual, although anyconvenient means can be substituted for supporting the pan. The forks 41are carried by a rod 42, which is held in a vertical position and is atits lower end pivotally connected, by means of the link 43, with thestandard 34, while farther up the rod 42 is pivoted to theweighing-lever 44, and this is t'ulcrumed, as shown at 45, on thestandard 34 and is provided with the weights 46 and 47, these beingdisposed on opposite sides of the standard and being adjustable on theweighing lever, so that by means of the weights the scale can be adaptedto weigh any 1 desired amount of material within certain limits. Theweighing-lever 44 is pivoted to a rod 48, which at the upper end isformed into an eye 49, which engages a stud (see Fig. 5) on an endportion of the door-controlling tube 32.

Referring to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the operation of the weighingapparatus is as follows: The scale being pushed up to the positionshown, the weight 47 will drop and one end of the controlling-tube 32will be depressed, so that the mercury will run into the depressed endand hold the tube in this position. The tilting of the tube brings thestud 31 into contact with the arm 29 of the door 26 and so opens thedoor against the tension of the weight 30. In this connection it will beobserved that there is a certain amount of lost motion in the rodconnection between the weighing-arm 44 and the controlling-tube 32, sothat the tube is not moved and the door 26 opened until the scale-pan 40is up to place. The door 26 being opened, as described, the snuff orother material runs through into the pan 40 until a sufficient quantityhas fallen, at which time the weight of the snuff overbalances theweight 47, thus raising the said weight and the weighted end of thelever 44, lifting the rod 48 and tilting the controllingtube 32, thusbringing the stud 31 out of engagement with the arm 29 and permittingthe weight 30 to close the door 26. This operation can be repeated asoften as necessary, and in weighing it will be noticed that theweigl1t'46 can be made to counterbalance the mercury in the tube.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that on each side of the scalethere is a funnel 51, which is supported in a suitable collar 52, (seeFig. 3,) and this is bolted or otherwise fastened to a bracket -plate53, which has a cushion or gasket 54 around the neck of the funnel,against which cushion the top of the bottle 55 or other package isbrought, as hereinafter described. As a matter of convenience I providea shelf 56 and partition 57 adjacent to the funnels and thebottle-holding apparatus,on which shelf bottles, trays, c. can be piledto facilitate the Work.

The snuff or other material to be packed is forced downward through thefunnel by a hammer 58, which has an enlarged head 59, this hammer beingmade to reciprocate up and down in the bottom part of the funnel, andthus the material is packed snugly into the receptacle 55. The hammer iscarried on the end of a hammer-rod 60 and, as shown in Fig. 3, the parts58 and 60 are separable, but, if desired, they may be in a single piece.Each hammer-rod 60 reciprocates through suit-able guide-collars 61 and61 (see Fig. 1) and the collars are supported in a bracketarm 62 on themain frame 10. The hammerrod is reciprocated vertically by means of thetilting lever 63, which is fulcrumed, as shown at 64, on a suitablehanger 65, and, as shown in Fig. 2, the lever is perforated to providefor shifting the fulcrum and so change the stroke of the hammer. Theouter end of each lever 63 is pivoted to a rod 66, which at its lowerend is fastened to an eccentric-strap 67, and this is carried by aneccentric 68 on the driving-shaft 64. The two eccentrics 68 are arrangedso that when one is up the other is down,and consequently thisarrangement follows with respect to the two hammers 58, eachreciprocating at the same speed as the other; but they alternate intheir strokes. This enables the attendaut to care for the bottles orpackages placed beneath the two funnels 51.

This means of reciprocating the hammers I find a convenient andpractical one, but I do not limit the invention to this precisearrangement.

In packing snuff or other more or less sticky substance the tendency isfor the material to stick against the Wall of the funnel 51. To obviatethis, I provide a scraper, (shown best in Figs. 3 and 4,) whichis,adapted to move downward close against the funnel-Wall and scrape thematerial therefrom. As shown, the scraper comprises a ring 69,encirclingthe hammer 58, a cross-brace 70, connecting the ring to thehammer, and the depending blades 71 and 72, which are of unequal lengthand which are hung pivotally on the ring 70. It will be'seen that on theupstroke of the hammer the scraper-blades hang loosely, but on thedownstroke they fly outward against the wall of the funnel and as they.move downward scrape off the material which would otherwise adhere.

Beneath each funnel 51 is a little table 73, which is carried by avertically-reciprocating support 74, which slides through suitableguide-collars 75, these being supported in bracket-plates '76. Eachsupport or red 74 is preferably screw-threaded at the lower end,

, as shown at 77 in Fig. 2, and provided with a nut 78, carrying acushion or buffer 79, so that when the rod is at the limit of itsupstroke it may not be too abruptly stopped. The cushion 79 abuts, whenthe rod is at the limit of its stroke, with the lower bracketplate 76.

Each rod 74 is pivoted to an arm 80,'and this connects by a pivotal link81 with a head 82 of a hanger 83, which is suitably supported on theframe 10, and the arm is provided with weights 84 and 85, which areadjustable and which are adapted to hold the table 73 in a normallyelevated position, or at least will so hold it when the table is pushedup in the position shown at the right hand in Fig. 1.

In operating the machine the weight 47 is adjusted so as tocounterbalance the right quantity of snuff to be put into a package andthe hopper 11 is kept sufliciently full of the material. This materialis constantly moved toward the center of the hopper by the conveyer 14,from which it is dropped inthe manner already described to the scale 40,and each time a charge is dropped the scale operates, as clearly setforth above, to close the door 26. The attendant then lifts the pan fromthe scale and tips the material into one of the funnels 51, beneathwhich funnel will be the bottle 55, which has already been placed thereby the attendant, who has alsolifted the table 73. The bottle is quicklyfilled by the reciprocation of the hammer 58 and its scraper, and whilethis filling is going on the operator places a bottle on the secondtable 73 and brings this up to position. The filling of two bottles canthen go on at the same time, and the attendant alternately pours thesnuff from the scale into the funnels and removes the bottles as fast asthey are filled. Y

If large packages are to be filled with the sun-E or other material, thedevice shown in Fig. 8 may be used in connection with the rod 74, sothat an even resistance may be imparted to the rod as the rod isgradually depressed under the influence of the hammer 58. To

this end a cylinder 87, which may be filled with glycerin or othersimilar liquid, is placed beneath the lower end of the rod 74, and therod where it enters the cylinder is provided with a piston 88. The upperand lower parts of the cylinder communicate on one side through a pipe89 and a valve 89, by which the flow may be controlled, and on the otherside by a pipe 90, in which is a check 91. As the piston 88 is depresseditforces the liquid up through the pipe 89 and valve 89 to a point abovethe piston, and when the piston is raised again the liquid passes againbelow the piston through the pipe 90. This arrangement, it will be seen,steadies the rod 74 and adapts it to the use described.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. Amachine of the kind described,comprising a trough-like hopper having a discharge-opening in thebottom, a normally closed door for the discharge-opening, a tilting armconnected to the door so that when.

moved in one direction it will open the door, a weighing-scale havingits pan arranged beneath the discharge-opening, a tiltingliquidcontainiug controller pivotally supported between the scale andthe hopper, means by which one end of the controller may engage thetilting arm and open the door, and a rod pivotally connecting theopposite end of the controller with the scale-beam by which arrangementthe descent of the scale-pan causes the controller to be tilted andpermits the door to close, and the ascent of the scale-pan moves thecontroller so as to open the door.

2. An apparatus ofthe kind described, comprising a troughlike hopperhaving a discharge-opening in the bottom, a swinging counterbalanceddoor to normally close the said opening, a depending curved armconnected to the door so that when raised it will open the door, a scalearranged with its pan beneath the discharge-opening of the hopper,

a tilting controller between the hopper and scale, said controllerhaving at one end means for striking the curved arm to open the door,

and a rod connecting the opposite end of the controller to thescale-beam.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES OSCAR ERIOSON.

Witnesses:

JOHN T. HYSORE, CARL G. DOMALDER.

